I Always See You
by JA Baker
Summary: Hera thinks Kanan broke his promise, so he endeavours to prove otherwise


_My first shot at a Rebels story, and indeed my first non-crossover Star Wars story.  
_ _Spoilers for the end of Season 2.  
_ _Mainly focusing on the relationship between Hera and Kanan, so if that's not your thing, try another story.  
_ _It goes without saying that it's all owned by Disney, but it's best to cover all your bases._

 **I Always See You**

To say that the atmosphere on the _Ghost_ was tense would have been to grossly under sell it. Ever since Kanan and Ezra had gotten back from Malachor, the rest of the crew had felt like they'd been walking on eggshells around Hera. The normally warm and approachable Twi'lek had grown increasingly sharp and confrontational, prone to snapping at the rest of the crew over things she'd normally let slide with a sigh and an eye-roll. Even Chopper had started doing what was asked of him without talking back, or at least, a close to it as the astromech droid was capable of.

And it didn't take much in the way of brains to realise that the cause of all this was Kanan.

While Hera was the ships undisputed captain, the Jedi was nominally their leader, but Hera had taken to questioning every decision he made or order he gave, to the point where the rest of the crew wasn't sure who to listen to. After a particularly venoms outburst by Hera had left Sabine almost in tears, Zeb had taken Kanan to one side and told him in no uncertain terms to find out what he'd done to upset Hera and make it right. The _Ghost_ wasn't a big ship by any standards, but there were a few places where one could be alone if wanted, and the _Phantom_ was one of them. Kanan waited until Hera visited the shuttle to perform maintenance on the hyper-drive before confronting her.

"Something's wrong, and it's starting to affect the crew." He kept his voice low and soft in a bid to give her one less thing to lash out at, "Talk to me, Hera."

"What's the point?" She snapped back, not even looking up from the circuit-board she was working on, "You're just lie again; break another promise."

"What?" Kanan blinked, despite the bandages covering his sightless eyes, "What are you talking about?"

"You know I'm going to be okay. We'll see each other again, I _promise_." Hera replied in a mocking impersonation of his voice, "Well, I guess that's never going to happen now, is it!"

"You're upset that I'm blind?" Kanan took half a step back, "Where do you get off being..."

"I'm not angry that you're blind!" Hera span around, snapping the circuit-board in two in her frustration, "I mean, yes, I'm angry that you're blind, so angry that I want to hunt Maul down and kill him with my bare hands because he hurt you. But..." She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, "Everything we've been through, we've always had each other's backs, and I always felt that nothing could truly hurt me so long as you were there...and I guess I felt that I could stop anyone from hurting you. I'm not angry at you, or the others, so much as I'm angry at myself."

"Hera..." Kanan took a step forward and carefully reached out until he had a hand on each of her shoulders, "You have to know that there isn't a person in this galaxy I'd rather have watching my back. But Maul... he's a Sith, and as good and as quick as you are...he would have killed you in an instant. And that's not something I could live with."

"I don't know; I'm pretty handy with a blaster..."

"Hera, honey, I know you are. But the reason I left you behind when we went to Malachor was because it was a different kind of danger than you're use to facing, and I didn't want to risk getting you, or Zeb or Sabine, hurt."

"But you were hurt." Hera reached up to slowly pull the bandages away from his eyes, "I always thought, one day, we'd..."

"I don't need eyes to see you, Hera, I never have." Kanan cupped one side of her face, "In my mind, I can see the way your nose crunches up when you laugh, the way your eyes light up when you start planning a new mission, the way the moonlight glisten on your skin that time we..."

"You'll make me blush!" Hera managed a laugh for the first time in weeks.

"...that slightly darker shade of green you turn when you're embarrassed." Kanan moved his hand down under her chin to lift her face up towards his, "I could never _not_ see you, Hera Syndulla; you're burned into my soul. And if, one day, Force permitting, we do... I won't need eyes to see true beauty. Not when I have you in my heart."

"You always were a smooth one." Hera smiled as she pulled him down for a kiss, "Did you lock the hatch?"

* * *

"I don't get it. Why have we locked ourselves in here?" Ezra fidgeted in his seat, trying to get more comfortable, "Kanan and Hera aren't going to have a fight, are they?"

"Not exactly, kid." Zeb chuckled, "not exactly."

"I keep forgetting that you haven't been on the _Ghost_ that long." Sabine adjusted the blanket that she'd draped over herself as she settled into the pilots chair, "It's how it works between them; one does something to upset the other, they argue, and then..."

"And then what?" Ezra asked, confused.

"Let's just say that they work things out." Zeb eyed the securely locked cockpit door, "And be glad for soundproofing."

"Soundproofing? Why would we need..." Ezra blinked, then his eyes went wide, "...oh."

"Yep. Normally, we'd lock ourselves in the Phantom, but as they beat us too it." Sabine closed her eyes, "Either of you snore, and I'm throwing you out of the airlock."

"Try and get some sleep, kid." Zeb advised Ezra, "It's going to be a long night."

 **The End**


End file.
